The
featured cartoon suggests a scenario by which the Democratic Party in
1880 might win the presidency (a feat they had not accomplished since
1856).Senator Thomas
Bayard’s firm position in favor of the gold standard could pull the
Democratic Donkey away from the chasm of “financial chaos” into
which it was toppling because of its desire for inflationary
money—paper currency (“greenbacks”) or silver.In the background, a glum Treasury Secretary John Sherman, a leading contender for the Republican nomination, holds a
document labeled “83 Cents Resumption,” while the Republican
Elephant lies unconscious by a boulder reading “Let Well Enough
Alone.”The image is
critical of Sherman’s acceptance of the reintroduction of silver coins
in 1878 (worth 83 cents to the gold dollar), which, according to
cartoonist Thomas Nast, undermined the resumption of the gold standard
in January 1879.By contrast, Bayard is praised for his congressional
resolutions (which appear in his hat) to repeal the legal tender notes
issued by the Treasury.In
the lead editorial of the same Harper’s Weekly issue, George
William Curtis called Bayard’s resolutions a “prompt and courageous
act,” which would help define the position of the two parties on the
money question.

Thomas Francis Bayard Sr. was
born on October 29, 1828, the son and grandson (and, later, father) of
U.S. senators.In his
youth, Bayard received a private-school education.At the age of 15, he began working for a mercantile house in New
York, where the family had moved temporarily, and then labored in
Philadelphia during 1846-1847.In
lieu of college, he began reading law in 1850 in Wilmington, Delaware,
passing the bar the next year.He
became a successful real-estate lawyer in Wilmington and Philadelphia,
and served as U.S. district attorney for Delaware in 1853-1854.During the Civil War, he was a Peace Democrat, opposing both
Confederate secession and the Union military effort as unconstitutional.In 1869, the Delaware legislature elected Bayard to succeed his
father, James A. Bayard Jr., as U.S. senator.An advocate of limited government, the new senator opposed the
Reconstruction program of the Republicans, subsidies and grants to
railroad and shipbuilding companies, and high protective tariffs.He endorsed civil service reform, tariff reform (lower rates),
and resumption of the gold standard.He became well respected and liked on both sides of the aisle,
and in 1877 was chosen as a member of the Electoral Commission, which
decided the contested presidential election of 1876.

In 1880, Bayard was, as this
cartoon suggests, a leading contender for the Democratic presidential
nomination.He was hurt by his strong support of the gold standard, which
alienated many Democrats who favored inflationary greenbacks or silver.His peace stance during the Civil War would make him a weaker
candidate against the Republican nominee, James Garfield, who was a
former Union general.The
electoral insignificance of his tiny home state of Delaware further
undermined his chances for the nomination.Finally, Bayard’s participation in the Electoral Commission of
1877, despite casting his votes for Democrat Samuel Tilden, meant that
he would not get the endorsement of Tilden, the acknowledged spiritual
leader of the party.Still,
Bayard managed to finish second on the first ballot, less than twenty
votes behind the frontrunner, General Winfield S. Hancock,
who won on the second ballot.In
1884, Bayard again finished second on the first ballot, but that time
his tally was far behind frontrunner Grover Cleveland, the governor of
New York, who was nominated on the second ballot.

In March 1885, President
Cleveland appointed Bayard as his secretary of state.Serving in the first Democratic administration since before the
Civil War, Secretary Bayard was flooded with requests for office, but
largely abided by his civil service principles to make appointments
based on merit, instead of partisanship.Much of his time was taken negotiating with Great Britain
concerning a longstanding dispute over fishing rights.In February 1888, Bayard and the British colonial secretary,
Joseph Chamberlain, signed a treaty defining which Canadian waters would
be open to American fishermen.The
Republican-controlled senate, however, rejected the Bayard-Chamberlain
treaty in August, a few months before the fall elections.Although Bayard failed to get an agreement with Britain to
curtail its seal-hunting practices, which were threatening the herd with
extinction, his efforts set the stage for a future treaty (1893).Likewise, his negotiations regarding a conflict between Germany,
Britain, and the United States over Samoa laid the groundwork for a
future settlement.

When Chinese miners in Rock
Springs, Wyoming, were attacked
in 1885, killing 28, the
Chinese government demanded that monetary damages be awarded by the
American government.Bayard
denied the federal government’s legal responsibility for the acts of
private citizens, but said that the president could make such a request
of Congress as an act of generosity.The American government paid the Chinese an indemnity, and Bayard
negotiated a treaty banning the importation of Chinese workers for 20
years.The Chinese
government refused to ratify the treaty, so the American Congress
responded with the Scott Act of 1888, which unilaterally enacted the
terms of the treaty (and extended the terms of the 1882 Chinese
Exclusion Act).

Following
Cleveland’s loss of the 1888 presidential election, Bayard resumed his
law practice in Wilmington.After Cleveland won reelection to a nonconsecutive term in 1892,
he named Bayard as the first U.S. ambassador to Great Britain (previous
appointments having held the title of minister).In that position, Bayard strove diligently to improve
Anglo-American relations.However, he caused controversy when he denounced publicly the
American government’s policy of trade protectionism as a form of state
socialism.Infuriated Republican congressmen called for his impeachment, but
soon settled on official censure from the House of Representatives.In his last year in office, Bayard’s health began to decline.He left office at the end of the Cleveland administration in
March 1897, and died on September 28, 1898, at his daughter’s home in
Massachusetts.